1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a server, system, and method for providing an IP address of equipment that uses a dynamic IP address.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the development of communication technology, various services are provided using remote equipment. To access remote equipment that is connected to a network, an internet protocol (IP) address is needed. Clients can access desired equipment via IP addresses. In general, an IP address is expressed by a series of numbers. Each of the clients can access the equipment through a domain name that is formed of a combination of more readable alphabets and numbers, instead of directly inputting the IP address of the clients. A domain name service that maps each domain name with an IP address is required so that the clients can respectively access equipment through domain names.
Many pieces of equipment have a dynamic IP address that changes with time. Accordingly, each piece of equipment has a regular domain name but different IP addresses over time. The client may access equipment having a dynamic IP address by receiving the dynamic IP address of the equipment from a dynamic domain name service (DDNS) that maps the domain name of the equipment and the IP address thereof.
A DDNS registers a plurality of pieces of equipment and performs a health check to update dynamic IP addresses of each piece of equipment and check the status of the equipment. A health check is conducted after the equipment notifies the DDNS of the status of the equipment periodically, and the DDNS updates the status of each piece of equipment in response to the status notification.